|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 16 November 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Planters' Assn. to celebrate its 150th anniversary The Planters' Association of Ceylon, the apex representative body of plantation crop producers, will celebrate its 150th anniversary on 17th February 2004. "It can fairly be claimed that the story of Sri Lanka's economic expansion in much of the nineteenth century is the history of the Planters' Association of Ceylon", its Chairman Rohan Fernando, said this week. "We therefore feel it is fitting that businesses that have been associated with the plantation sector be provided an opportunity to celebrate this epoch making event with us". The association is planning to launch a coffee table book on the history of Sri Lanka's plantation industry, issue a special commemorative stamp, a sports tour of the island by a 40-strong team from the United Planters' Association of South India (UPASI), a simultaneous visit by a 10-member delegation from the Incorporated Society of Planters (ISP) of Malaysia, technical seminars on tea, rubber and coconut and a gala dinner. Planters' Association Secretary-General, Malin Goonetileke, said several leading companies have already confirmed their decision to support these events financially. Plans are now being finalised by a committee tasked with organising the anniversary celebrations. "Corporate sector entities may contribute to this event with donations of cash or by sponsoring scheduled events", Mr. Goonetileke said. "A detailed list of events and their requirements is now available at the Planters' Association for sponsors".The Planters' Association of Ceylon was inaugurated in Kandy on 17th February 1854 by rubber planters of the day "... to have some organisation that would be able to speak authoritatively on their behalf and to deal with those responsible for the administration of the island". Since then, the plantation industry has faced more challenging adversaries than the blight which destroyed the coffee plantations just a few years after the Association was formed. The Planters' Association of Ceylon, now headquartered at Vajira Road, Colombo 5, has weathered political, social and economic upheavals, survived the nationalisation of the estates, and today continues to be a dynamic champion of private sector interests in the plantation sector. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
